Drone: Part 1: Alone
by Bootnell
Summary: A Borg Drone's cube crash lands on a planet with him being the only survivor. This his story, as he attempts to return to the Collective while finding out that he is human afterall.
1. Chapter 1

_Drone 10 of 12, Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 4255 activate.  
_  
The Borg drone awoke and left his regeneration unit.  
_  
Drone 10 of 12, Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 4255 readjust shield harmonics._

The Collective did not have to tell him why to do this or even how to change them. All information was instantly shared with every member. Right now the ship was  
about to encounter another ship and they were about to assimilate.

The Collective had been engaged in many more assimilation missions then in the last few years. Ever since it's loss of the Transwarp Hub ten years ago at the hand's of the Federation Starship Voyager the Collective had been bidding it's time and rebuilding the Hub. Captain Janeway had done much damage to the Borg, but finally it was the Borg's time again.

The Federation had figured they had destroyed the Queen, but she was more resilient then they could comprehend. She was onboard the cube that was destroyed at Wolf 359, Picard and Data, the android, on the Enterprise-E both thought they had destroyed her- but she lived on to deal with Voyager and the annoying Captain Janeway.

All assimilation was kept in the Delta Quadrant because the Queen knew that if the human species got word of new Borg activity they would immediately go after the Collective with all of the Alpha Quadrant at their side. No, it was much better to work in the Delta Quadrant in those parts untainted by Voyager.

Drone 10 went about his business neither looking at or talking to anyone around him. That just was not need if you were Borg. He reached the shield matrix and began to make his adaptation for the current species. They were species 7495, technologically deficient, they only achieved warp drive recently, but their biology made them good assimilation candidates. Drone 10 quickly finished his work.  
_  
All biological assimilators prepare for new drones._

At that order over three dozen drones activated and made their way to the assimilation chamber. The Borg only had three types of drones minus the Queen. There were medical/biological assimilation, tactical/assimilation starters, and engineering/technological assimilation drone. Each drone was designed to fit one of these categories during assimilation. Drone 10 was one of the tactical drones. It was his job to board ships, attack, defend, and shoot anyone he touched full of nanoprobes to begin the assimilation process. In an emergency situation it was possible for the nanoprobes to go against the drone's default setting and completely assimilate someone.  
_  
Tactical drones prepare for boarding of alien vessel._

This was it time for Drone 10 to do what he was designed to do.

Things were not going well for the crew of the Rajantan warp vessel. After a year in space they had explored much of the space surrounding their star system and encountered many interesting sites. Including a nebula that would render all technology useless. Luckily, they discovered it with probes and never actually flew into it. Today they were cataloging rocks from a moon orbiting a planet near their home world. It was boring and everyone on the ship wished they would meet someone. This was very worrisome to everyone aboard. The only reason their planet's space program existed in the first place was they convinced the leaders of their planet that they would be able to find other forms of life out here amongst the stars. The captain never let onto the crew just how bad things really were. The truth was, if they did not find so much as a microbe within the next month the entire space agency would be completely shutdown. There was just no way this could happen. They would become the laughing stocks of their entire planet.

"Operations," he said meaning the male of their species who was manning the sensor array. It was actually very difficult to tell a male Rajantan from a female. The only true way to tell the difference was the males gave off a slightly stronger odor then the females. Mating was even more complicated and caused more embarrassing moments then the whole history of Earth could produce.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Anything yet?"

"Still nothing, Captain." The captain slunk back in his chair. "Sir, I am reading metallic mass."

"Yes?" the captain said excited.

"And, Captain, it seems to be in the form of a perfect cube."

"Odd. On screen."

The metallic cube came into view. Obviously, it was not natural. Clearly, someone had made this. Finally, they would prove to everyone back home that they were  
right.

"Quick, try to open communications."

"They are already opening communications, Captain."

Wow! What am I going to say! This is our first contact with aliens! He tried to calm himself down. He began to open his mouth to speak when he saw strange looking men with machines in their bodies appear on the screen. It was odd, but he just chalked it up to being a part of their species.

"Greetings, on half of the Rajanta Republic I would like to..."

"We are the Borg! Resistence is futile! We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us."

"Sorry" was the first and only word or question to come to his mind.

The Borg did not answer. The captain was worried and afraid.

"Captain, should we arm weapons?" asked Tactical Officer.

"No, take no provocative action."

Was this what warp drive was going to get for them? Enemies? If only Captain knew that if the Borg had their way whole world of Rajantan would be assimilated by the end of the day. Before Captain could think of any defensive actions to take two Borg Drones were in the middle of his bridge.

"Get them!" Captain ordered vaguely.

The Rajantan crew did not know what to do. War and fighting just was not a part of who they were. In the whole history of their world there had not been even a single war. Two security officers ran toward the drones with an attempt to knock the drones over. This landed them on the floor instead.

Drone 10 knew what he had to do once he knocked one of the crew to the floor. He quickly lowered his hand to the alien's throat and injected nanoprobes into it to begin the assimilation process. His counterpart did the same.  
_  
Drone 10 of 12 Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 4255 begin technology assimilation._

He walked to the closest console to him, which happened to be the engineering station. He began injecting the nanoprobes. Once the resistence on board the more specialized drones would beam in and take over the job. 10's counterpart began assimilating the rest of the crew.

The Captain looked around his bridge and saw the chaos. His crew were being attacked and his bridge was beginning to show strange green symbols on every screen. He had no choice. For the first time in his life he had to attempt something daring. The two aliens were busy at their work. If he could get to the helm maybe he could fly the ship into the nebula, which was a few thousand meters in front of them. It would render everything on the ship useless and he would have to make an emergency landing on their world, but hopefully it would stop these aliens.

He started toward the helm. The aliens were ignoring him. He listened to the screams of the rest of his crew. Though it pained him throughly he said and did nothing so hat he would not draw attention to himself. The alien at the engineering station had moved on to sensor. The captain was moving slowly. Getting closer and closer he made his way to helm station. Finally, taking a deep breath he sat in the chair. Then he hit the first coordinate.

_Alert! Alert! Drone 10 of 12 Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 4255, cease assimilation activities and intercept member of Species 7245._

Drone 10 moved as quickly as his Borg legs would allow him, but he was too late. He injected the nanoprobes into the Species 7245 member then the helm console to help him stop the ship. The ship took off toward the nebula fast. The cube gave chase and followed the ship. Soon, both ships entered the nebula.

The Borg Cube attempted to lock a tractor beam. Nothing was happening the tractor beam failed. Both ships began to be affected by the nebula. For, the Rajantan's first the power began blinking in and out, causing many different problems all at once. Computer consoles all over the ship. The engines hailed causing it to slow but momentum kept it hurtling through the nebula. The Borg Cube followed behind still at it's original speed and smashed into the Rajantan vessel. Drone 10 was knocked from the helm and back toward a turbolift. The Collective instructed him to enter the turbolift and seal the door behind him.

His cube was in bad shape. Regeneration units were exploding with drones still in them. The survivors were attempting repairs, but with technologies failing all around them this proved impossible. Things were so bad on the ship that the nebula managed to get the Queen's attention. She watched what was going on in the cube, and knew that was all she could do for now. This nebula threatened perfection. The Borg must find a way to adapt to or eliminate this threat.

The Rajantan vessel and the Borg Cube continued to deteriorate as they both made there way, now by momentum, toward the end of the nebula. Once the ships reached the end fo the nebula they faced a new danger. They were picked up by the planet's gravitational field.

Inside the turbolift Drone 10 might have been afraid if he hand any feelings of his own. All he was doing now was moving to different positions in the turbolift as the Collective issued orders to protect him. The shields of both vessels had failed and they were being pulled toward the planet. The ships took a hard fiery hit when they began to enter the atmosphere.

That hit knocked Drone 10 off balance and his head smashed into the back of the turbolift, and there was a shower of sparks from his neck. He then fell onto the floor unconscious. He did not regain conscious for hours.  
_  
Attempting connection to Collective... Connection to Collective unavailable. Activating emergency protocols... Listing protocols.  
1. Reestablish contact with Collective  
2. Assimilate surrounding population  
3. Regeneration required_

Drone 10 activated his arm tool unit and used the buzz saw cutter to make his way out of the turbolift. Once he was out he started scanning; no life form readings. He made his way out of the ship continuing to scan every body he came across. Unfortunately, still no survivors.  
_  
Emergency Protocols... Search vessel for any sign of life or useful technology._ It took hours to search the wreckage even with his advanced Borg technology, but in the end there was nothing. Drone 10's Emergency Protocol Computer came across the only conclusion.

Drone 10 was completely alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Drone 10 looked over his priorities again.

_1. Reestablish contact with the Collective._

_2. Assimilate surrounding population._

_3. Regeneration required._

The first would take time and require more drones to build a base and other equipment, so his computer moved it to the bottom of the list. The list refreshed in his field of vision.

_1. Regeneration required. _

_2. Assimilate surrounding population._

_3. Reestablish contact with the Collective._

Drone 10 thought about the list. It would do him no good to attempt assimilating without having regenerated. Unfortunately, all of the regeneration units were destroyed. If he found a power source the nanoprobes could the rest and create a collector out of the surrounding area and some ruined technology. His computer made the adjustment.

_1. Find power source._

_2. Regeneration required. _

_3. Assimilate surrounding population._

_4. Reestablish contact with the Collective._

Drone 10 began scanning: no dilithium and no fossil fuels in the area. Wind was at a zero. No water. The only power source in the area seemed to be the planet's sun. His computer concluded that a solar panel would need to be constructed, one with the capacity to power a Borg base. The drone began to collect some of the nearest wreckage. He also grabbed one of the regeneration units that was in the best condition. This he put next to the pile of wreckage.

Then he programmed two sets of his nanoprobes; the first would turn the wreckage repair the regeneration unit, the second would turn the wreckage into a solar collector. He just hoped none of the population discovered him until he was ready. Surely, they noticed the crash and would checking out the crash site at any time. "I still don't think it is worth the risk," said the general.

"But, sir, any longer of a delay could be hazardous. We've already wasted enough time that any survivors who may have needed medical care have probably perished."

"But, we are obviously dealing with some kind of hostile aliens, besides the crash occurred on the Forbidden Continent. You know what it is like there: no food, no water, and zero resources. No team could survive."

"Sir," the scientist said, "it is worth the risk. Who knows what ideas we cold get from studying the alien technology. Maybe we could learn something to use against them."

"Hmmph," was the only sound the General issued.

"Besides, sir," Scientist said, "We need to recover the bodies for the families' sake. So, they can have a proper burning."

"Oh, very well. But some armed soldiers will accompany the team."

"Thank you, sir, and I promise this trip will change our planet's outlook on life."

Twelve hours after starting their work the nanoprobes had finished their respective jobs. Drone 10 was finally able to step into the regeneration unit. After so much unusual work it was like coming home for him. Other then not hearing all of the rest of the Collective's voices the regeneration cycle was normal. Because the other's were not there his own voice was noticeable to him for the very first time. He listened closely to what it said... which for now was exactly what the rest of the Collective would have said as well, _We are the Borg, We will assimilate this world and return to the Collective_. Once his regeneration cycle was complete he came to and stepped out of the regeneration unit. He paused and updated his list.

_1. Construct base_

_2. Assimilate local population_

_3. Reestablish contact with the Collective_

The plan seemed simple enough. The base would be to house the growing number of drones that there would soon be and to coordinate all their efforts on this world. He began to scan the local area for the best spot for the base but he getting an odd reading that seemed to mean nothing, but that he could not verify. So, the first thing that would need to happen was that he needed to build was a sensor array. That would have far better abilities then a mere tactical drone. Also, to actually get the base built he would need to have a small Collective on this world. Which meant that his neural processor would need to be repaired during his next regeneration cycle.

_1. Repair neural processor_

_2. Assimilate local population_

_3. Construct base_

_4. Reestablish contact with the Collective._

Now he began cutting the sensor array out of the ship. He decided the base would be built around his regeneration unit. Cutting the sensor array was a painfully slow process, but he did not understand boring. This was just a task that simply had to be accomplished and if it took a while it took a while and it had to be a precise cut. Soon, once this task had been finished he would be one step closer to reestablishing his link with the Collective.

The Rajantans lived on one of the two continental masses on their planet. Ranjanta was one of the truest examples of ying and yang in the galaxy. One continent was teeming with life of every sort. The other was a barren wasteland where nothing could possibly survive on its own.

The Rahantans did not like the continent, but they put up with it. They were researching technology that would hopefully one day allow them to propagate across the entire face of their world. They knew the technology would probably take centuries to develop, but they knew that it would make all the difference for future generations. That was the real reason none of them could understand why some wanted to explore space if they could not explore there own world, what was the point of exploring others.

The soldiers were only now beginning to prepare the ship for the journey to the Forbidden Continent. Assignments had to be made; supplies ordered. Unfortunately, you could not just find something and go explore it. Certain procedures had to be followed and preparations had to be made.

One of the first thing that was decided was that a freighter ship would take the soldiers, scientists, ATVs, equipment, and food supplies to the Forbidden Continent. They had first thought about just flying over to the site, but it would have been too impractical to try to fly all the supplies over. After finally setting out they determined it would take a total of five more nights to arrive at the crash site.

So far, everything was going according to plan. It took ten hours to properly cut and move the sensor array. Right now one set of nanoprobes were fixing the array and another was ready to begin fixing his neural processor . Drone 10 stepped into the regeneration unit.

Borg regeneration was an interesting phenomenon. It acted as sleep did for most humanoid species. That is repairing and regenerating the body for the next day. But, where other species dreamed the Borg used this time to share and process information that was needed about new threats and to regenerate their vessel as well.

Things were different for Drone 10 now. There was no information to receive or send. No tactical threats to process. Nothing. Nothing but useless silence. It was almost unbearable for him. Then as if sensing his desperation whatever was left of his human nature took hold for the first time. The darkness faded away. He found himself in a corridor of a Federation vessel and looking at a woman.


	3. Chapter 3

Lieutenant Sonya Gomez was doing better on the Tolstoy then she did on the Enterprise. It was eight months after her promotion and transfer and she had not spilled a drink on anyone. She always did like working on the Enterprise, but working on that ship it would have taken years to get a promotion. Captain Picard was known for being stubborn about giving them out. So, when the captain of the Tolstoy offered her a promotion if she served aboard his ship, she jumped at the chance.

Gomez was proud of herself. She had been placed in charge of the third shift in engineering. Seemed her young and driven was helping her out. Things were going great. She had met a handsome man one day. That chatted a bit and later went out to dinner. That was six months ago, and Gomez was really starting to picture herself with him for life.

The thing that really seemed to draw these two together was that they would sometimes get to work together on third shift repair missions. He was a helmsman, so they periodically would find themselves working together to repair something outside of the ship. He would fly a shuttle and would lock onto the ship where the repair was needed. Then he would assist her in anything she need in an environmental suit. It was a shame today would not ve as sweet for her, especially on her six month anniversary.

They both managed to get scheduled for no duty shifts that day, because her lovely "Lt. Charming," had some surprise for her. The only thing she had figured out about it was that he had scheduled time in the holodeck. She did not know anything more, and it was driving her crazy. She had spent all morning trying to find some kind of dress she could replicate for this evening, but still had not found one she liked. She was just starting to look through Bolian evening wear, as a last resort, when her combadge chirped.

"Lieutenant Gomez, report to my ready room."

"Aye, Captain."

"And on the double please, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir."

_Why would the Captain be calling me to his Ready Room, especially on my day off? And why did he sound so urgent?"_

Gomez hurried out of her quarters, but then tried to walk at a calm pace. Her mind could not decide if she should be panicked or not. Her instinct, however, had come to that decision already, it was in full fledged panic mode. She arrived at the turbolift , the door opened and she walked in.

"Bridge, please," Gomez said.

One thing about Lieutenant Gomez was that was that even in an emergency she always remembered to be polite to all the ships circuitry. It got her more then a couple raised eyebrows from Geordi La Forge on the Enterprise, which was something she never really understood. Of anyone, she figured Geordi would embrace the idea, considering how much his day to day life functioning depended on technology.

Finally, the turbolift doors opened and Gomez took a deep breath and collect herself. She was very carful to look professional when she walked onto the bridge. No one would know by looking at her, but she was scared to death inside. She did not know why she was being called to the ready room. Lately her work had been up to Starfleet standards and it was not like she had gotten in trouble for anything. She arrived in front of the ready room door. She stopped, breathed in a deep breath, and hit the door charm.

"Enter," the Captain said. Gomez walked in and saw that the he was busy looking over all sorts of PADDs. He did not even seem to notice she cam in. After waiting for a few moments she decided she needed to speak up.

"Captain? You wished to see me?"

The captain finally looked up.

"Ah, Lieutenant. Wish I could say it was good to see you."

"Captain?"

"I'm afraid I have some alarming news, Lieutenant."

"Sir, if this is about any of my work..."

"Lieutenant, you can calm yourself. This has nothing to do with the quality of your work."

"I called you here because I wanted to inform you first, because of certain circumstances."

"Sir?"

"You served aboard the Enterprise. Did you know Jean Luc well?"

"Well, I didn't know him that well. But I did managed to spill hot chocolate all over him."

"Tell me, Lieutenant, do you remember the mission to System J-25."

"Well, yes sir. We encountered the Borg when Q threw us into that system. Eighteen people lost there lives because of him."

"Well, I have some bad news. The Borg have begun an invasion. They have sent one of their cubes on a direct course for Earth."

"Sir, this is terrible, but why are you telling me first?"

"We have been ordered by Admiral Hanson to meet with the rest of the fleet at Wolf 359. There we have to try and fight the Borg, and the knowledge they stole from Captain Picard."

"Sir?"

"They assimilated Picard"


End file.
